Kaamos
by Trinxy
Summary: Castle wants to go to spend a week before Christmas abroad. In Finland. Beckett is not so happy about it. Does Beckett agree to this sudden trip to Finland and what will they find out there? Merry Christmas, everyone! ChristmasFic


**Kaamos**

"You what?" shrieks Beckett, standing in the middle of Castle's loft, arms crossed on her chest.

"I thought you liked the idea of going someplace I haven't been with my ex-wives yet?" Castle tries to reason with her, sitting on the couch and facing her irritated self.

"For our honeymoon!" she huffs out.

"Let's make this a trial honeymoon?" Castle offers, smiling weakly.

Beckett looks at him like he is some kind of alien who doesn't speak the same language as she does. "Trial honeymoon? Castle, trial honeymoon in Finland? In the middle of _DECEMBER_? Are you crazy? It's _COLD_ there!"

"It's cold here too!" he protests.

"Not that cold!"

"Come on, Kate, where is your sense of adventure?" Castle asks, offering another smile.

She doesn't say anything anymore, closes her mouth and harrumphs. This is not the way she imagined this discussion going when she wanted to ease herself out of the Christmas craziness.

He wants to go Finland._ FINLAND!_

Castle doesn't stay quiet for long. "By the way, Alexis called me a while ago, saying she has exams next week, she won't be joining us. And Mother said she'll pass on the trip as well, because it's too cold for her. So, I guess, it's just you and me."

Beckett tries to suppress a snort, but she can't; it escapes anyhow. "It's too cold for me too."

"We are leaving tomorrow." Castle acts as if he didn't hear her last comment.

"Castle, I ain't going to Finland."

"Yes, yes you are," Castle smiles at her stubbornness. "It's pretty there this time of year."

"And cold," she adds.

"Kate. Come on. Let me show you the magic of the Northern lands, would you?"

She sighs, turns around and walks towards the fridge. She opens the door and takes out a carton of juice.

"Why Finland? Why now?"

"Because it's Christmas Time!"

"How's_ that _relevant right now?"

Castle rolls his eyes. "Really, Kate? Don't you know that Santa Claus lives in Finland?"

"Santa isn't real, Castle," she reminds him.

He smiles and shakes his head. "Oh, Beckett, you are wrong on that one. We're gonna have fun there. Niklas said that if we get bored, we can always hit the ski resorts in Northern Finland."

"Niklas?"

"A Finnish author I met at Black Pawn. He is quite famous in Finland and Black Pawn is representing him here in the States. Very pleasant guy. I've known him for a few years and this winter, he invited me to visit his home. I thought before Christmas would be a great time to visit him and of course, Santa Claus."

"Well in that case," Beckett replies sarcastically. "Let's just fly there, right away."

Castle stands up from the couch, taking one step closer to her. He extends his hand as a peace offering.

"Beckett," he hums out soothingly. "You have some vacation days left, I know that. Would you please let me take you somewhere magical?"

Beckett hangs her head in frustration and stares at her feet. She wants to take a step back to get away from him, but at the same time, she's entranced by his energy, she just wants to forget her frustration and hug him.

"Come here," mumbles Castle and takes a final step towards her. He wraps his arms around her. She gives up resistance and wraps her arms around his middle, snuggling against his chest.

"Beckett," he sighs. "Are you against the general idea of a trip or just that I arranged it without talking to you?"

She is silent for a long while. Finally she raises her eyes to look at him and shakes her head gently. "I'm not against travelling, Castle. It's just… it's so sudden. You know how it bothers me when you just do things spontaneously without thinking."

"I _was_ thinking!" he mumbles in protest.

"I beg to differ," she chuckles.

"So, are we going then?" he asks again, after a long silence.

She presses her face against his chest and squeezes her eyes shut. She grits through her teeth. "Fine. Let's go to Finland."

Castle's arms tighten around her for a moment and she can hear the smile in his voice. "We will have so much fun! And don't worry. We will be back before the 24th. So we can spend Christmas with family."

She smiles and sighs in his embrace. This is going to be a long trip.

* * *

It's dark outside when they land in Rovaniemi. Castle's private jet takes a little bit of time to find a taxiway in the snowfall, but in no time, they are parked in the far end of this little airport and an airport bus is waiting for them. When they finally finish everything at customs, they head to the general luggage area, trying to find their bags amongst those from the Helsinki flight that just arrived.

Niklas is already waiting for them in the main terminal of the airport, big grin on his face. The two authors greet each other and Castle introduces Beckett to him and his wife.

On their way to Niklas' country house, the company of four falls into a comfortable chat, Niklas asking them about the flight and Castle inquiring about their life here in Finland.

"Niklas, why it is so dark outside?" Kate asks, looking at her phone, which now has the adjusted time on the display. She furrows her eyebrows. "It's 3 pm, shouldn't it be lighter?"

Niklas throws his head back and lets out full hearted laughter.

"Kate, we are very close to the Arctic Circle," Castle offers.

"And?"

Niklas turns his attention to Beckett. "The northern part of Finland is located north of the Arctic Circle. During the winter, many of the cities in this part of the country have Polar Night. You know, when night lasts longer than few days. In Finland, we call it _Kaamos_. Here in Rovaniemi, we get to see a little bit of light every day, but it isn't much. Only few hours. The sun just set before you arrived here."

"Castle?" she growls.

"Yes,_ my dear?_" he turns to look at her, grinning from ear to ear.

"You brought me to a place where there is no sun?" she hisses quietly, so only he can hear her.

Castle only chuckles and points to the view out of the car window. "No, I brought you here because of this."

Beckett turns her head to see what he is pointing at. She gasps when she sees the magnificent spruce forest covered with thick snow. The moonlight shines across the white field, making the forest seem luminescent.

"Wow," she breathes out."

Castle nods. "Wow indeed. When Niklas first told me about his home, I didn't quite believe his stories. But seeing it all myself… it's very beautiful."

"Thank you," Niklas grins from the driver's seat.

* * *

The next day starts slowly.

The jet lag took its toll on the both of them and they fell asleep sooner than they wanted to.

Beckett cracks one eye open and she realizes she is alone in their bed. Furrowing her brows, she huffs out a frustrated sigh and rubs away the sleep from her eyes. She still feels tired, but slowly but surely she gets out of bed and dresses herself. When she makes her way to the living room area, Mari - Niklas' wife - is sitting on the sofa and raises her eyes when she sees Beckett emerging from the guestroom.

"Hey, did you sleep well?" she asks, smiling sleepily.

Beckett yawns and answers. "I think so. What's the time anyway?"

"It's around 9."

"Nine? It's still dark outside," she remarks.

Mari only smiles and shakes head. "The sun is yet to rise."

"Oh," she mumbles, surprised.

The silence hangs between them for a few moments and Mari is the one who finally breaks the silence.

"The men went to pay a visit to our neighbor."

"Ah, that explains why I woke up alone," Beckett nods. "Why the neighbor?"

Mari smiles again. "Our neighbor Ville has a herd of reindeer, some of them are trained well. They went to borrow some sleighs and reindeer for today.

"Reindeer? Sleigh?" Beckett's eyes go big. Mari speaks like it's the utmost usual thing to say. But for a girl from New York, reindeer have been only in pictures and storybooks and maybe even in Zoo, but this is something different.

"We're going to visit Santa Claus today." Mari gets up from sofa and steps towards the kitchen. "Are you ready for this?"

"I think so?" Beckett sighs, a note of hesitation in her voice.

Mari only laughs a full hearted laugh Beckett follows her into the kitchen, chuckling lightly.

* * *

When the day finally rolls into night, the four people emerge from the snowy hills of Northern Finland. Mari is sitting in the sleigh that Niklas is steering, Beckett is buried under the pile of reindeer furs on the other sleigh, operated by Castle (after a long argument Beckett had let him drive, but stayed wary the whole ride there and back).

The men are having too much fun leading the reindeer through the thick snow and women are occupied with watching the nature swallowed by night around them.

"Look!" Niklas points to the northern edge of the sky. "Auroras!"

He stops his sleigh and so does Castle. The women get out from under the furs and stand in the foot thick snow, watching the dance of green and yellow auroras across the sky.

Beckett leans into Castle's firm body and he pulls her closer, hugging her with one hand.

"Wow," whispers Beckett.

Castle nods against her. "Yeah."

* * *

"God, I love saunas." Castle leans into the sofa cushions and stretches himself to full length. "It was freezing before, but now I feel like I have been lying on the beach for hours."

Niklas laughs. "I think it's fair to say that 'I told you so'."

"Yes, yes," Castle nods. "I have to admit that, there is no sauna like Finnish sauna. The ones back in the States don't even come close. Or at least the ones I have been to."

"Of course," Mari smirks. "I mean, our sauna was built by Niklas' father and it's heated by firewood. It's definitely a whole different thing than an electric heaters and factory-made saunas."

"Besides, ours is a bit bigger than usual saunas are." Niklas smiles.

Castle nods approvingly. "Nice!"

Beckett emerges from the sauna as well, her skin red from the heat. Covered only with a big towel she steps into the living room and sits down beside her fiancé and takes a mug filled with mulled wine from the table.

They settle into a friendly discussion over the wine.

At one point during the evening, Beckett leans closer to Mari and points to the lovely handmade decorations scattered around the house. "I love your Christmas decorations."

"Thank you!" Mari smiles.

"It's very low-key," she comments. "So unlike Castle's home." She throws a smirk to her man. He is ready to protest when Mari's voice starts to explain.

"Well, we don't do many Christmas decorations at all. I think less is more. And almost everything in here is handmade. Some I did myself, some I bought from fairs. But I like it."

"I like it too," Beckett smiles. It feels … kind of nice. Nicer than the over-commercialization in States," she muses. "When I was a child, we used to make Christmas ornaments ourselves as well. My mom let me decorate the tree with all the decorations I made myself. It looked awful, but it felt right."

Castle just sits there and lovingly stares at his fiancée. She doesn't open up to strangers so easily, but for some reason, Mari gets to her and she … she shares her life, even if it is just a little bit.

"Yes, yes it does," Mari agrees. "I loved when my mom sat down with me and my brothers and made some Christmas stuff with us. It always felt like a family thing to do. You know?"

"Yeah," Beckett nods.

"For Finns, Christmas isn't about the all the Christmassy stuff and shopping and gifts. At least it wasn't in my family. Christmas has never been about religion, not even about Christ's birth. It's a celebration of the winter solstice. It's a celebration of _light_ in the darkest part of the year. It's sun's birthday. And, most importantly, it's a celebration of _family_. Celebration of being together and being happy," Mari tells them.

Niklas is smiling proudly at his wife, while Castle and Beckett listen quietly to her story.

"My mom used to leave the Christmas food on the table and the fire burning in the fireplace for the whole night. She always said that we must take care of our ancestors, they want to eat Christmas dinner as well."

"And the food didn't go bad?" Castle is curious.

"No," Mari chuckles and shakes her head. "She cleaned it all up in the morning and we got some leftovers after Christmas day, on the 25th."

"Wait? 25th? Isn't that Christmas Day?" Castle is confused.

Mari shakes her head again. "No. In Finnish tradition, we celebrate our _Joulu_… uh, I mean _Christmas_ on the 24th."

"Oh. Wow. I didn't know that."

"Yeah."

"That is pretty interesting," Beckett agrees, settling herself against Castle and feeling buzzed from the copious amounts of mulled wine they have been drinking the whole evening. "It's quite a bit different than back in the states. But at the same time, it's the same. Christmas is such an universal holiday."

Castle hums in agreement while both Niklas and Mari nod at her words.

"You know, in Finland, Santa Claus isn't called _Santa Claus_… We name him _Joulupukki_." Niklas lets them know.

"Oh. Really? It sounds like the English word_ 'Yule_'," Castle shines with his knowledge.

"It probably is similar. The word joulu is a derivation of old Norse word _'Yule',_ so you might be quite right." Niklas answers.

"Why '_pukki'_?" Castle is curious.

"Ha," Niklas cheers gleefully. "I thought you might ask that. You know, the name _'joulupukki' _literally means _"Christmas buck"". _Joulupukki was once a symbol of fertility and more of a frightening figure back then than today. He was clad in thick fur-lined coat turned inside out, wearing a mask and a pair of horns on his head."

"Woah," Castle breathes out. "And you didn't get Santa Claus then, but some horned buck?"

"Some centuries ago, yes, but right now we have the usual Santa, like you have in States. He is more Nordic, but he's still the same. He pushed out the horned figure from Christmas time around 19th century."

"That's relieving to know," Beckett laughs. "I was starting to worry that we would get a visitation from _the buck _while we are here."

Niklas shifts closer to Castle and asks. "Do you know how they name Santa in Russia?"

"Oh, oh…" Castle holds up a finger. "I did know that, but …" He fishes out his iPhone. "I need to check if I am right."

"Oh, Come on! That's cheating!" Niklas whines, bringing laughter out from the ladies.

Castle smiles victoriously. "Ha! I knew that. It's _Ded Moroz_ or something like that?"

Niklas nods. "Yeah._ Ded Moroz._ Father Frost, as they say."

Castle gets competitive now. "Ha, but do you know how they name Santa in Hungary?"

Niklas furrows his brows and tries to find the answer in his head. But he shakes head. "I can't recall it at the moment. Ah, but," he also gets his iPhone and types something in there."

"Ha, got it as well! Its _Mikulàs_, isn't it?"

The evening continues with Castle and Niklas trying to trump each other with the many names of Santa Claus for a long while. They are so deep in discussion they don't even notice when their other halves sneak out of the room and head to their respective bedrooms.

When Castle finally slides into their bed, he finds Beckett deep in sleep under the fluffy blanket, her cheeks red with sleep. Castle bends his head down and places a kiss to her cheek. She doesn't wake up, but wrinkling her nose, she moans something under her breath, but he doesn't really understand what. He doesn't even care. He is tired, too.

He smiles sleepily and climbs over her to his side of the bed. Entwining his arms around her lithe body, he finds that sleep is fast to find him and he yields to it.

* * *

A week later, on the 24th of December, Beckett is sitting in the living room in Castle's loft. Having just finished their big meal, she decided to retire for the evening and stay on the couch. Castle is still cleaning up the mess he and Alexis made while preparing the dinner. She wanted to help. She really did. But she was kicked out from the kitchen (you had a long day at work, go sit down and rest).

So, there she is, her eyes closed, soaking in the smells and sounds of this overly familiar place.

After few minutes she feels the couch sinking under the weight of her fiancé and she cracks her eyes open. Surely enough, Castle is sitting there with two wine glasses in his hands.

"Wine?" he offers.

"Sure," she smiles and takes one glass from him.

Both of them lean back and sigh, as the energy settles around them.

"Thank you," Beckett whispers suddenly.

Castle raises his eyebrows. "For what?"

"For taking me to Finland. For reminding me what the Christmas is really about. For a long while I have denied myself having the joy of Christmas. Because of my mom. And, as Mari said in Finland, Christmas is a family tradition. I didn't have any family before you came around. But now, I have family. I have a light in my life. And this is really worth celebrating."

Castle takes in a shuddering breath. He hadn't imagined that the trip to Finland would change her mind. Well. He had hoped, but she can be quite a headstrong person. She really wants to celebrate. She wants to be with him. And his family.

Without any words, he takes the wineglass from her and places both of them on the table in front of the couch. He turns back to her, his hand rising to touch her cheek.

"Merry Christmas," he whispers.

"Merry Christmas," she whispers back to him.

He leans closer and their lips meet in gentle caress once, twice, before they yield to their feelings and kiss.

* * *

_**A/N: I wanted to share something from my neck of the woods. I love Christmas and I love Finland. **_

_**Merry Christmas to everyone. I hope everybody will have a peaceful holiday time!**_

_**Trinx**_

_**Please leave some reviews as well. If you can. It would be greatly appreciated!  
**_


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